As a returning guest to CNBC’s “Squawk Alley,” Chamillionaire detailed his upcoming pitch competition, where he will invest $100,000 into one winning minority or woman-founded startup company.
“We’ll be investing in a minority or a woman-founded startup. We believe that these companies [and] demographics are underrepresented, we want to bring more awareness to this,” he said on the show.
Chamillionaire will partner with E-40 and the investing platform Republic to host the competition, which will be judged by “Shark Tank” investor Daymond John.
“Hopefully, we’ll find a really great company,” Chamillionaire said.
The Grammy-awarded rapper and investor, who has held other startup-funding pitch competitions like this in the past, highlighted the lack of minorities and women he sees represented in investing communities like Silicon Valley and in startup businesses.
“This time I want to go just a little bit bigger, because I feel that there’s a lack of awareness for companies like this,” he continued. “In Silicon Valley, there’s always a lot of people investing in companies that don’t normally look like me. I just came from a big tech summit this weekend in Oakland, called AfroTech and there was like 10,000 entrepreneurs, and investors and engineers.”
“When people say that they can’t find African American startups to invest in, it sounds a little crazy to me,” he said.
Startups can submit their pitches on Convoz, an app that Chamillionaire launched in 2016, which fosters face-to-face communication. Pitches submitted through the app will be reviewed by Chamillionaire, Republic and E-40, with John helping to narrow down the applicants to choose one winner.
“I believe information and relationships are the two things that separate people in Silicon Valley, who have access to this information, and the people in my community,” Chamillionaire continued. “I believe all of us in the investment community have a responsibility to do this. Especially in the minority and women-world, because these companies are underfunded, but it’s the opportunity for innovation that could happen… These people are solving new and unique problems and I think the only thing in their way is capital.”
The pitch competition runs from Nov. 11 through Dec. 6.
Watch Chamillionaire’s full segment on “Squawk Alley” below.